According to famed play researcher, Stuart Brown, engaging in play is done without an intention or purpose. In fact, the most playful activities are those that are done with no purpose or motivation whatsoever except the act itself. This is often where enhanced creativity comes from in addition to the myriad of other benefits.
Yet, when most people are advocating the use of play, they point to the pleasure, the joy, and how much of a difference that makes. All the while, they forget some of the more practical benefits that would help these activities to become more widely adopted.
Don't get me wrong, doing something fun for the sake of doing it is what I am all about! However, spreading the message of play (however I can) is of the utmost importance to me. Sometimes (especially in the corporate realm), it makes a difference to have practice statistics and numbers to back things up.
Here are 3 different playful activities that many of us do for pleasure, but actually have profound health implications as well.
Playful Activities - More Than Meets the Eye
Playing just to play is what I'm all about, but for the more corporate and practical oriented people, here are a few activities you probably already do that have more benefits than you might suspect.
1. Video Games - the most vilified of play activities, video games can actually be an incredibly useful tool for people of all ages and careers. According to the American Psychological Association, a 2013 study showed that kids who played role-playing and strategy games were more likely to get improved problem solving grades.
Beyond problem solving, video games often helps to improve social skills because 70% of kids are playing with friends (as opposed to alone as most stereotypes depict). One of the reasons video games are vilified so often is because of the research on the negative aspects of this past-time. While it is incredibly addictive and should be limited to a few hours a day, it is still a good way for children and adults to learn.
2. Swimming - if you have ever gone to the beach for a swim, you'll probably notice dozens (if not hundreds) of other patrons who are enjoying the same space. The vast majority of people who are enjoying the ocean water are frolicking and enjoying themselves, but swimming has a variety of benefits.
First, as an exercise it is a great way to improve health without being high-impact on your joints (like running). Also, as ancient Egyptians found out, sea water is filled with nutrients like magnesium, which can help to make skin smoother. Both women and men can benefit from this.
3. Slackline - walking on a thin rope might seem like it is done purely for the sake of fun, but this can actually be a great way to work on your balance. For many people, balance starts to deteriorate with age and having a method to keep "in-shape" makes a difference.
Also, according to Men's Journal, a slackline session is a rigorous core workout that strengthens many regions of the body including the abs and back.
There are plenty of other play modalities that you can incorporate into your daily life purely for the sake of it. However, when human neurons fire together, they will start to wire together and create great new opportunities for the brain and body connection.
This is great for play advocators (such as myself) and the skeptics, who just need a little bit of practical evidence to support their desire to get out and play.